Thanks to the success of series likeCities SkylinesandFrostpunk, unique city builders seem to be everywhere these days. Fans of the genre have been brought to fantastical lands, across the stars, and been challenged to build cities in a wide variety of locales. This month, they are once again being whisked away on a new adventure with Overseer Games’Kaiserpunk. This game challenges them to build a city in an alternate 20th century and conquer the world. While it does deliver on the city-building experience, many aspects of the game leave much to be desired.
Kaiserpunkbrings players into an alternative version of the real world and tasks them with building a powerful city within it. They must manage its resources, appease its population, and prepare for any possible invasion. As they continue to expand, they must also head out into the wider world and make their mark against many other warring factions. This creates a unique blend of genres that should keep players going for a little while. However, some may also find that the game quickly runs out of steam as the hours press on.
Kaiserpunk Delivers a Nice Mix of Genres
Whenplayers first start theirKaiserpunkjourney, they are tasked with planting the seeds of a powerful city. First, they get to decide where in the world they live, who their leader is, what their city looks like, and what their flag looks like. Additionally, they get to decide if their army looks German, Russian, or like the Western powers. Then, once they are happy with all of that, their conquest of the world can begin.
Much like any city-builder, they must first attract laborers to their city by constructing the required housing. Then, they must continually grow their city with resource buildings like farms, industry that can create higher-tier resources, and morale boosters such as schools. As they grow, they will have to ensure that their production matches their needs and be prepared for whatever the future may hold. Not only must they attract even more types of people and unlock all sorts of new buildings, but also war looms on the horizon.
As players grow in strength, they must also branch out into the wider world and conquer their surroundings. To do this, they must build armies within their cities and then deploy them in neighboring regions. Battles will be fought across land, air, and sea, with only the strongest forces prevailing. And if players plan accordingly, the entire planet could be theirs by the end.
Warfare itself works much like it doesin other strategy games, which makes for a nice break from the city-building experience. Players send their army to another region, they fight against whoever else is in that region, then retreat to prepare for round two. Once they successfully wipe out the opposing unit, that region becomes theirs, and they are able to construct various improvements or build a garrison to protect it. Occasionally, their army will also level-up, giving players a wide assortment of talents to choose from. And once they have reinforced their army, they can do it all over again.
Some of Kaiserpunk’s Features Leave Much to Be Desired
While the combination of city-building and strategy makes for an overall decent experience,much ofKaiserpunkfeels like it is lacking. For starters, the cities themselves seem to be pretty lifeless. Citizens do not really fill the streets, and everything is presented in dull muted colors, making for a rather forgettable landscape. Additionally, the buildings themselves lack much character, with some being virtually impossible to differentiate between. And since there does not seem to be any UI elements to help point out important buildings, things can be often lost in the crowd.
Along with that,the game’s tech treesare a bit of a mixed bag. Instead of putting points into a tree or unlocking new buildings at certain population levels, players accumulate points in three different tech trees depending upon how many buildings of that type they are using. Each offers a wide assortment of unlockables that will likely prove vital to any player’s city. However, if players are not paying attention, they may reach the next level without even realizing it, as the game only tells them with some small lines of text in the corner. Additionally, some levels only unlock background perks, making it not feel as rewarding as it could. While it is nice that players do not have to spend time plunging points into these trees, it would be better if it was a bit more engaging.
As players fight their way through the world, they will also have to engage in some diplomacy with other factions.This diplomacy is rather barebonesas players only have three options to choose from when talking to another leader. They can strike a military, trade, or science deal, with each type simply being the trade of resources. Besides that, the only other diplomatic option they can take is to declare war. These leaders have no personality and there is practically nothing they can do with them, which makes for a rather unforgettable feature.
Finally, for some reason, the deletion, moving, or copying of buildings does not seem to be connected to the buildings themselves. Instead, players have to click one of the five buttons in the corner if they want to do any of that. While this is hardly a game-breaking feature, it does seem strange not to bind these controls to a hot key. Couple that with the many issues already stated, andKaiserpunkseems to be lacking in many areas.
Kaiserpunk Has Strong Foundations Let Down By Its Many Issues
That all being said,Kaiserpunkis not a bad game, it just does little to impress.The city-building featuresdeliver what genre fans are looking for, the warfare aspect can be a nice change of pace, and the game itself has some strong foundations that the studio could build upon. However, the lack of character, the dull presentation, and the numerous lackluster features hold this game back immensely.
While some players may love some of the thingsKaiserpunkdoes with the genre, many may find it is a mostly fine take on the concept. If the publisher’s past games are anything to go by, there is a chance that the game will expand with more content to help build out the experience further. But, as of now, players will have to wait and see.
WHERE TO PLAY
Kaiserpunkreleases May 19, 2025 for PC. Game Rant was provided a code for this review.
